NSTA Assignment: Exploring the National Science Teachers Association

This assignment explores the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), covering its foundational aspects, including its meaning, establishment date, and objectives. It identifies the current president, membership size, and the NSTA Learning Center's function, which offers tools for science educators. The assignment details useful resources provided by NSTA, such as mentorships, conferences, and instructional materials. It also outlines the theme of the next national conference and lists four NSTA journals. Additionally, the assignment includes a hypothetical shopping list of NSTA items within a $200 budget, the cost of NSTA membership, and the benefits associated with it. The document concludes by referencing the sources used for information.

Running head: NSTA 1
NSTA
Name
Institution

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Questions about NSTA
1. Meaning of NSTA
NSTA stands for National Science Teachers Association. In 2019, NSTA was renamed as
National Teaching Association.
2. When and why was the National Science Teachers Association founded?
NSTA was established in 1944. This organization was founded to promote excellence as
well as innovation in teaching of science and learning for all.
3. The Current President of NSTA
The current president of NSTA is Dennis Schatz. He started serving his one year term in
the organization on 1/6/2019. Dennis is well known as well as respected for his numerous
contributions over the past forty four years to science education in both the informal and formal
setting, and for his enthusiasm and passion for science.
4. Total Members of NSTA
NSTA's present memberships of fifty thousand (50,000) include science supervisors,
science teachers, scientists, administrators, industry and business representatives, as well as other
people committed to and involved in science education.
5. Meaning of NSTA Learning Center
The NSTA Learning Center refers to an electronic portal created by the NSTA to offer
resources, opportunities, as well as a suite of tools for science educators (Morrell et al., 2020).
The professional learning community supports the professional development of the people based
on their unique learning preferences and needs.
B. Useful Things Offered By NSTA LEARNING CENTER

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NSTA provides robust mentorships, conference, blogs, and resources core to my
professional development (Governor et al., 2020). Also, it offers instructional materials and
online learning opportunities for its members.
6. The Theme of the Next National Conference of NSTA
The theme of the next conference of NSTA is Steaming Forward: Future Ready.
The next national conference of NSTA will be held in Boston, Massachusetts (Boston
Convention and Exhibition centre). This national conference will be held on April 2-5, 2020.
7. List of four journals published by National Science Teaching Association.
NSTA published journals for middle school, elementary, college, and high school
teachers (Mills, Bourke & Siostrom, 2020). The four journals include Editorial: 1) Our journal
written by Ann Cutler, 2) Editorial: Coming on Board written by David Wojnowski, 3)
Observational Journals written by Philip Sadler, Eliza Garfield, and Doug Haller, and 4)
Analyzing as well as communicating Scientific Information written by James Clements, Luz
Magurian, Laurence Baucher, and Susannah Feldman.
8. List of NSTA Items That I Will Buy with $ 200
NO ITEMS TITLE PRICE
($)
Author (s)
1 Book HELPING
STUDENTS make
sense of the world
41.95 Christina Schwarz,
Brian Reiser, and
Cynthia passmore
2 e-book Exploring Safely 17.21 Juliana Texley and
Terry Kwan
3 Book Matter & Energy for
Growth & Activity
44.95 AAA/Project 2061
4 Book Understanding
Climate Change
31.95 Lois Sherwood and
Laura Tucker
5 Book Argument-Driven
inquiry
47.95 Ashley Murphy
and Victor
Sampson
6 SciGuide Heredity and
Variation
5.95 NSTA
7 Science Object Global Climate 5.95 NSTA

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Patterns
Total 195.91
9. Cost of Joining NSTA
The cost of joining NSTA for students and teachers is $40-$80 per year
10. What shall you obtain with your membership?
As an NSTA member, I will receive:
 The award-winning journal of my choice
 Access to online science resources
 Science learning research
 Access to over 200 other services and products
 Admission to the National Teaching Association (NSTA) learning centre as well as other
professional learning resources
 Access to email lists

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References
Governor, D., Osmond, D., Choi, S., Nelms, A., & Vazquez-Dominguez, M. (2020). Reshaping
Preservice Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge With Primary Source Documents.
In Open Educational Resources (OER) Pedagogy and Practices (pp. 160-186). IGI
Global.
Mills, R., Bourke, T., & Siostrom, E. (2020). Complexity and contradiction: Disciplinary expert
teachers in primary science and mathematics education. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 103010.
Morrell, P. D., Park Rogers, M. A., Pyle, E. J., Roehrig, G., & Veal, W. R. (2020). Preparing
Teachers of Science for 2020 and Beyond: Highlighting Changes to the NSTA/ASTE
Standards for Science Teacher Preparation.

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